Chrono Upheaval
by Star Fiction Studio et al
Summary: Epic adventure; Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy IX and Valkyrie Profile crossover
1. Default Chapter

Chrono Upheaval

This story begins where Infestation lefts off…And I thank Rann Aridorn for starting this long story…

The Chrono Upheaval has finally arrived; The Count of Time is on a verge of collapse and the countless universe will perish with it. In the mist of this chaos, dark forces are rising to take whatever the World has taken from them. 

Join your heroes from Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy IX, and Valkyrie Profile with new heroes from their realms and beyond as they engage in an adventure that would take them to uncharted and mystical lands across the Earth, Gaia, Midgard, and more.

Uncover histories forgotten in the Sands of Time. Explore worlds riddled with great, enchanted, and lost civilizations born after Atlantis sank into the Sea. Marvel at colossal and magical ruins left by forgotten people. Journey to the lands blessed with the awesome beauty and gifts of Mother Nature. Plunge into the carnage of wars and strife. And live the lives, the dreams, and the legends of heroes, rulers, and misfits as they encounter the greatest of love and hate, of life and death, and of fantasy and reality across the multi-universe. 


	2. Where the Tides Returned

Chrono Upheaval 1: Where the Tides return…

Authors: Star Fiction Studio and Robin Cranes

Chapter 1: Trail into the lair…

Vader walked in the deep dark forest in the El Nido mainland. Though it was late noon, the forest filtered so much light that one could hardly see where to go.

Vader appeared human, 6'3" in height and solid built. His entire body was covered by his black armor made of a form of thin synthetic cloth with segmented 'cartridge' belt around his waist connected to a suspender also made of the same material. He wore a black motorcycle helmet with visors down, so dark his face can't be seen. He had large, black, pointed shoulder piece supporting his black cape reaching just a few inches above the ground. At his shoulder he rest his weapon, the Ore of Nightmare, a 10-footer crooked pole with 3 feet of slightly hook-like blades at both ends, facing opposite sides. (Put it the other way, his weapon is almost exactly like a double-sided scythe). 

His prolonged walks in the forest led him darker and darker. So dark it was almost night in the woods, worse are creepy sound of different creatures shrieking, howling, roaring and so. Large thick masses of trees all over the depths of the forest made any unwary traveler prone to ambushes to both bandits and monsters. Nevertheless Vader walked upright and calmly despite the potential dangers the forest can give him.

Continuing onward he saw a figure of a human. Moving closer, he sees an old man in his early old age and was all covered with blood and bruises. Probably the man may have been robbed, attacked by bandits or animals or someone who had fallen from a tree. 

Vader placed his hand on the man and the man opened his eyes slowly because he must be dying with his blood lost.

"Watch out!" the man gasps, stretching his arms and reaching for Vader's. "Giant spiders… in the forest… kidnapped… ugh…" the man weakens his grip as his soul fades.

Vader placed his hand on the man's left wrist but there the pulse was weak. He could also feel that the man's body temperature getting cold. It's too late to save him anyway, even with an immediate medical treatment. Vader laid the man's body to rest on the ground. He opened his hand and the man's body dematerialized in speck of violet and purple 'stars dust' which then vacuum towards Vader in his palm.

He looked around and he could see a trail of blood from the spot where the old man was. The bloody trail leads to an even darker and foggy path but Vader followed it anyway. The path looked extremely dangerous yet it didn't alter Vader's calm walking stance.

Moments later, the trail faded to nothing but Vader found a small hunch in his trail. Using his foot, he flipped it and it did – a scalp from a human skull. For most people this must be a warning that you are walking to Death's lair, but Vader's calm nature did not budge to the scary sight.

Another moment past, this time he finds a garment, dirty and stiff. He went on slowly and pacifically went and picked it up. Not far, he could see some white silk strands. He also finds a red blouse, partially buried in the silk. The blouse was small, and may belong to a child. There were no buttons but at the edges were yellow stripes. Dirt had accumulated on the garment but not so much. 

He crouched, picked it up, looks at it from one angle to another and nearly checking every detail of the object as he analyzes it. Though a non-living material, Vader can trace the slight energy that it had been worn by somebody a week ago. But that was all the information he can get from a cloth so threw it back in the ground as a piece of rubbish..

A giant spider, nearly the size of a gorilla, leaped from above Vader by surprise. Vader leaped from his position, with his weapon's blade pointing to the spider. In split seconds, both Vader and the spider landed on the ground, both facing away from each other. As Vader stood up, the spider shrieked then fell in halved, green blood gushing out of its opened gut.

With the spider dead, Vader continued on then found more pieces of clothing and bones. All the clothes were littered and were badly shred, rotting, and dirty. Some bones had flesh still attached to them but showed signs that they had decayed for quite some time. Silks from spider were present, much greater than the previous area where he had killed a spider. The air too had a profound smell of decaying flesh. Fog here is very dense, its no longer possible to see anything over twenty feet, but Vader walked on naturally. It seemed that the further he walked, he finds more silk, old garments, bones, and thicker fogs.

Several minutes pass, then Vader was looking in front of a cave with its entrance sealed by pitch-white bundle of silk strands. Vader easily cut it with the blades of his ore and entered.

Inside, the whole cave is a graveyard. The ceiling has figures of 'mummies' hanging like lanterns, but it is so high up that they look just as small as snails or maggots from the ground. Some patches of the ceilings are covered with silk strands. The floor was covered completely with decaying human bodies and skeletons, and spider webs. Spider webs also covered the walls, completely.

Before he could go deeper into the cave, a spider jumped from nowhere and lunged towards Vader. Vader easily caught the incoming company, kicked it on it thorax, and sent it flying and crashing into the ground. The spider shrieked and trashed as black fire ignited at where Vader kicked it. Then the arthropod died as its body was reduced to chunks of char.

More spiders come out of there hiding places, all over the cave. The first ones charged onto Vader but he easily cut them half with his blades, their bodies falling then burned up in black fire. Squads of eight legs swarmed towards Vader. 

Vader leaped up as the spiders crashed and bumped against each other then. He dived back and slashed each spider hundreds of times in a second then burned. More spiders dived from above to seize Vader but he easily dodged them and kicked them as they missed.

The spiders were relentless. Even more eight-legged species jumped out of their hidings and quickly, their replacements came replenishing their losses.

Vader floated in the air. The spiders leaped as hard as they could, but they all end up dead and charred as Vader knock them back in one strike or slash using his weapon. Spiders keep on coming out of their hiding places, soon almost the entire ground, walls and ceiling of the cave were resurfaced by the swarming arachnids.

Vader ignited a black fire on his palm with a snap of his fingers. The spiders still continued to attack him but to no avail, they end up burning to death every time they make contact on Vader. With the flames ready, Vader waited until there are enough spiders gathering.

"_FLAME BOMB._" he exclaimed picking up and throwing a chunk of out of his fire and threw it to the spiders below. 

The small flame ignited as it hits the ground, putting the spiders and decaying corpse on the ground on fire.

"_FLAME BOMB_." Vader exclaimed again. He threw a small flame to the ceiling, burning every hanging spider in the ceiling. 

Despite the attack, more spiders still burst out of their hiding places. The first one from the ceiling was about to tackle Vader. Vader reposition his weapon and the spider landed directly on the blade, piercing through its abdomen. A moment later, both the floors and the ceilings were again resurfaced by swarms of spiders. 

As one of the spiders from the ground leaps, Vader caught it. His fingers hooking, piercing and sinking deep into the spider's hairy skin. 

Vader tenses himself, making the flame from his palm grow bigger that it spread to his arm. Then, black fire engulfs every square inch of Vader.

"_GENOCIDE!_" Vader said firmly, and the fires from his body began travelling towards the spider, setting it on fire. The spider shrieked as the flame caused it so much agony. Finally, it burst in black fire after the last flame cleared from Vader.

Spiders from all over the cave started bursting in flame. Spiders who are even hiding jumped out of their confines frantically trying to put out the fire but it doesn't extinguish. 

Vader, floating upright and pacifically on the air, watches calmly as every spider, some of them are still infants and are no bigger than a cockroach, burn alive as they struggle to put out the flame ineffectually. Many spiders tried using their silks to wrap the flames, like choking the flame from oxygen, but it still continue to burn, even their own silk burned. Others were innovative; they rolled over and over to put out the flame but it didn't work either and the thoughtful spider just wasted itself into ashes.

Unable to hold on, most spiders collapse to the ground as they weaken. Some are quite hardy that they even tried trashing around, hoping to put out the flames themselves but the black fire won't stop. The ordeal of getting burned by the black fire is just as agonizing as being set on real fire. Some of the arachnids were so willful to stay alive that they struggled mindlessly, doing anything, even the most stupid tactic, to put it out. It was just impossible; the flames are completely unstoppable. 

Finally, the dark fire took its toll and with so little of the body remaining intact but burning and the rest decomposed by the fire, the spiders had no choice but to gave up the struggle and fell off their eight-legged balance. Vader, floating on the air, watched the holocaust he made as the last dead spiders were reduced to ashes. 

Vader flew to a nearby hanging cocoon, one of the dozens inside the cave. Obvious to him that these were made when spiders wrap their silk around a human. He cut the silk strand hanging it, lifted it, brought it down on his arms and opened it by cutting the bondage with his weapon's blade. Pungent gas and dust rose from the cleavage, which he continued to widen. It could burn the nostril of any human but Vader's helmet had shielded most of the odor.

It turned our to be a corpse of a lady. Rather supposed to be a lady but it looked more like thick dirt covering its skeleton. The sockets left pits where the eyes used to rest. Her raven and brown hair was long but untidy and covered part of her face. The face's cheeks and other skin had stick onto its bone and dried in brown. Its guts were reduced to dirt that filled its abdomen. Very little flesh clung onto its limbs, hands, and feet. So badly decomposed that when Vader nudged to dive, the corpse fell apart. The pieces end up the rest on the cave's skeleton-filled ground.

He flew to another mummy and he did the same, freeing whatever is inside. Inside was a young female, no more than fifteen years old, naked, slender, and had a long black hair. Her eyes were closed. Vader placed his hand on her wrist. There was no pulse and she was dead cold. Vader reduced her to speck of purple and violet stars (dematerialized her) and absorbed her towards his palm, very much as what he did to the dying man outside the cave. 

Going back to the ceiling, he picked up another bonded human. He opened it and it was a young blonde. She was still alive but naked and unconscious. The blonde had been thinner than a human could. Her fair skin had paled and her ribs can be seen protruding its shape at her slender chest. Her rosy cheeks had faded and her cheekbone's form had taken over the spot. Her eyes swollen and her diaphragm rising and falling twice or three times slower than the regular breathing rate does.

Vader could hardly trace any 'life force' within her. She must have been exhausted, poisoned, imprisoned so long or so that she had very little energy left. Vader carried her on his arms, brought her down from the ceiling, took off his cape, and wrapped it around her nude body.

"It would be alright…" He whispered, brushing his palm down her hair. Kid showed no sign of response. 

Vader was about to leave Kid to pick up another potentially living victim in a cocoon when the ground started shaking. Smoke began bursting up into the air then, almost immediately, debris of rocks and decayed bodies, mostly skeleton. 

He lifted Kid onto his arms again and leaped out of harm's way as the ground he was standing collapsed. Vader watched as a fault on the ground gets wider and wider then a much bigger spider, bigger than a stegosaurus, crawled its way out of the crack. 

However this beast seem had an unusually large fangs, or mandibles, in proportion with its body which makes it look like a mutant spider with the stag beetle's mouth.

The spider took some time to get out of its tight-fitting exit, giving Vader some time to spare. He pulled out his weapon and allowed the fainted Kid to rest on his chest; holding his weapon on one hand and the other strapping around Kid's back so she won't fall.

The spider finally freed itself from the crack and charges at Vader with its stag-like jaws. The monstrous spider snapped its mandibles as it tries to bite but Vader lodged its weapon onto the monster mouth, making it impossible to snap shut. The spider continued to hold Vader's ore, trying to pull it back and forth while tightening its hold. Though the monster is big and incredibly strong, Vader didn't budge. He twisted his weapon a bit, with a slash, causing its blades to slice up the monster's stag-mouth. 

The spider shrieked as it moved back, green-white blood gushing out of his broken fangs. Its shrieking was so loud that it sounded like a roar.

As the monster charges again, Vader thew his weapon onto the beast, his weapon spinning likes a propeller. The blades hitting the monster, lodging it on the face. The monster shrieks again, louder. Vader leaped upward so high that he was just a few meters from the ceiling while holding Kid. He materialized a glowing lavender double-edged light saber (or spear) which is just as big as his Ore.

"_BALLISTIC HARPOON!_" Vader exclaimed, throwing his glowing saber, javelin-throw style, towards the monster.

The glowing projectile moved towards and broke through the spider's 'back' and explodes in violet flames underneath, launching the monster for a hundred feet off the ground and fell back again. The fall of the spider rocked the cave so hard that huge stones from its ceiling fell, despite the support provided by the silks. 

The giant beast was nearly torn to pieces, green pus and some other fluids gushing out all over its body, as a result of the explosion and the harsh landing. It tried to stand but fell back onto the ground. Again, making one last attempt to stand but only with enough strength to lift its head only to fall again. 

Vader slowly descend himself slowly back onto the ground with Kid. Being far from the monster, he made a few steps closer to inspect the fallen arachnid. After a couple of steps and just a stone throw away from the spider, he stopped as the spider slowly started to jerk again. The giant spider made one last, and direct, glance onto Vader before closing its eyes slowly as it dies. 

The whole cave started shaking. More huge stones fell from the ceiling and the silks of the spiders seem powerless to hold the falling cave any longer. There is not enough time for Vader to check the other mummified humans above. 

He carried Kid on his arm as he dashes out the cave collapsing from behind him. Rocks were falling in front of him, falling in his way. Vader managed to kick them off his track. He couldn't use his hands with Kid on them. The cave was rapidly collapsing behind him, one false move and he and Kid could join the rest of the rubbles. The assassin fled out of the cave, into the forest immediately outside. There was a ditch just nearby and he dived into it, clutching on Kid as he spread his back to protect her from falling debris of the caverns. 

Vader stood back up, the clouds of dust is still thick. The spider's lair is completely demolished, leaving only a mountain of rocks. He looked back at the blonde. She was still asleep. The girl must have some serious condition to be unable to awake after all the commotion: the carnage of the spider, the deafening shrieks of the beast, and the fall of the lair. 

Vader turned back to the forest, holding Kid on his arms, perhaps taking her to a refuge. The sky was turning orange; the sun is setting.

"Bravo!" a man in white glasses and untidy, somewhat long, blond hair cheered as he watches Vader's rescue from a palm-size orb.

The man was very plump at the belly and he stood barely over four feet tall. He wore a green jacket, white T-shirt underneath, and black pants. On his hand is a sheathed sword, only the weapon's gold handle and its glittering jewels were seen while its sheath appeared to be made of mostly leather and stitches.

He picked up the orb and continued watching Vader walking down the forest and carrying the blonde Kid and looking for a shelter or so as he stroll down his huge empty ruin. The whole structure was made of smooth, well-polished bricks and smoother pillars of various designs holding the structure's foundations. Pools and channels of boiling lava run all over the place, very much as water runs in the sewers, illuminating the ruin. Amazingly, everywhere was clean, without a trace of dirt or insects.

Walking further, he exited the ruin from a stair, made of the same polished bricks, leading upward. Outside, a thin forest mixed with other ruins, some devastated and some intact, and bright.

"The time is near…" He murmured as he looked up the cloudless blue sky. "What are you going to do now Bojaro…"

Chapter 2: The long night's call to day

The lone Porre officer, Norris, leaned his back against the wall outside Kid's house in Termina. He turned his head back and forth every now and then as if he were waiting for somebody who got really late in the meeting. Signing a bit due to boredom, he picked up a peppermint stick from his picket and inserted it into his mouth then folded his arms.

The red glow of the sky grew more prominent as the sun decent lower into the horizon. Vendors had already started packing up their items on display as they close their 'shops'.

"Seen her?" A voice came. 

Norris turned and sees Glenn, a young man in his leather and metal armor. Two swords hung on his side. His left cheek was marked with an 'X' scar and his hair was silvery and was kept by a thin bandana. Behind Glenn was Serge. Serge was seventeen to eighteen. He had a deep blue hair, as untidy as those of Glenn and was kept by his red bandana. His upper was a steel mail over a black shirt. And Leena, the only girl in the trio, came from behind Serge. She was a redhead dressed in her familiar jacket over a bluish blouse and her skirt.

"No." Norris replied, shaking his head. "How about you?"

"No sign of her either." Glenn replied.

"It's getting dark." Norris said "But I wonder why she had been missing for five days now."

"I don't know why she had been gone this long…" Glenn stated. "Serge, Leena" Glenn turned. "You better go back to Arni Village before it gets too dark to see."

Serge shook his head in disagreement.

"Serge…there's always tomorrow." Leena plead to convince him. "We'll find her, someday."

"Yes Serge" Glenn said. "You might get back now or else it may be late evening by the time you get back. We don't want any villagers to be worried about you."

Serge turned to the setting sun then back to the group and nod, agreeing to return to Arni village.

"Well, lets go Serge." Leena smiled in relief as Serge followed her as they walked out.

The young Porre officer and the noble dragoon watched Serge and Leena leave desperately. They knew Serge had been in pain since finding out Kid was missing. Leena also felt as bad as Serge but the country girl is also worried of Serge getting lost too or both of them in the night. Not long after that, both Serge and Leena were out of sight.

"This is not good!" Norris growled. "Where could she be."

"Its usual for her to leave" Glenn respond. "But for a period of for this long, I wonder where could she be now or what happened to her."

"Do you think we need a search party or a rescue mission?" Norris asked.

"I don't know" Glenn replied. "But if she were in real trouble, I would take your advice."

"Let's search again for her tomorrow." Norris said. "If we still don't find her, then can we launch such…"

"OK" Glenn nodded "Let's get back to our houses before we could lose our way in Termina."

With that, Norris saluted Glenn and they both turned to leave in different direction. 

The low sun continued descending to the horizon. The stores all around the port town began packing up and ready to close but some remained open. Slowly, the darkness of the night slowly shrouded the sky and creeps into Termina.

Vader laid Kid onto the hard ground, covering her nude body with his cape. They were inside a small cave, where its entrance was covered by a waterfall. Water covered most of the cave's only chamber, except for the last few meters from the dead end. Vader grew a new cape on his shoulder in a second, replacing the older cape that had now covered Kid's nude body.

The assassin looked back at the girl he had saved earlier that day for like a hundredth time. He could swear that he had seen her before, more like several millennia ago? He thought but he was lost in his memory confusion. Or maybe he had just too much concerned about her after he rescued the girl from possible death.

Vader thought of buying some food and clothes but leaving the little blonde alone could make her vulnerable. To make matters worse, nighttime won't see much about finding a still-open store.

Kid trashed one bit, eventually pushing off her blanket and exposing her left leg all the way to her hips. Her movement reduced to minor shudders before she returned motionless again. Vader turned to cover her back then he noticed a trail of slime dripping down to her knee.

He brushed his finger against her leg, unemotionally, to pick up the liquid. Then slowly adjusted the blanket back to cover her exposed skins. Kid got so quiet in her sleep; her breathing was almost inaudible, despite the silence in and out of the cave. 

Vader brushed his slime-drenched finger against the palm of his other hand, analyzing the liquid. To the human eye, it appeared as just slime but Vader could see that this is not just liquid; there is actually living creatures yet helpless. Looking closer, he had images of bean like blobs, so small it is invisible to a human eye.

"Spider fetus…" Vader whispered. The spiders must have deposited their offspring and used her as an incubator to breed their infants, no wonder the girl was so weak. The nymphs must be removed from her body or they will continue to absorb her life force, nutrients and blood until she dies!

Vader searched around and picked up a rock the size of his head. He lit up a violet glow on his index finger on his other hand. He pressed it against the rock and it began disintegrating at every spot he touched with his glowing finger. Like welding or forging. Slowly, he molded it into a palm-size bowl and filled it with water from the cave.

He went back to Kid, flipped her blanket, exposing her leg. He bushed his finger to pick up the slime containing spider fetus that had drenched her leg down to her knee.

He submerged his finger with the slime into the bowl full of water and allowed the slime to dissolve or mix with the water. He retracted his finger as soon as the slime had completely mixed with the water.

"_GENOCIDE!_" He whispered as he lit up his thumb in a violet, non-luminous, flame and dipped it into the water.

The water then started flaming up, not burning up though, in violet fire. As the flames cleared, the water in the bowl turned deep purple and Vader turned to Kid.

"Girl, wake up." Vader gently tapped her cheeks with his other hand. She didn't respond.

Vader lifted and pushed her back so she can be in a sitting posture. Hanging the blanket over her shoulder so it won't fall off so easily. She slowly opened her eyes, looking very fatigue and sleepy. She couldn't actually see Vader and she could barely make out what she was hearing.

Vader gently slip the edge the bowl's mouth onto hers as he turned the angles steeper and let the dark liquid flow into her mouth. She didn't respond to drinking it, though not actually resisting drinking. Some of the liquid flow out of her mouth and into her chins and downward further. Fortunately, her inability to respond still allowed the liquid to flow down into her throat. Vader wrapped the blanket around her, lifted her onto his arms and let her to face the water on the cave nearby.

Within a minute, Kid vomited white liquid. So much slime that the water near her discolored into gray. Afterwards, Vader strapped Kid's arm over the back of his neck and his arm under the back of his shoulder.

Before Vader could reach her leg, he noticed she was wet. He stripped the blanket from her and saw that her vagina was flushing out a similar white liquid.

After almost thirty seconds, it was all over. Vader threw the old, wet cape that had wrapped her, took the cape on his shoulder off and wrapped it around her. He lifted her and took her away from the water.

He turned to the water and sees that the once gray water turned deep violet then back to its natural, bluish color.

Noticing the air getting colder, he knew that Kid must be in a chill. That is, 'leave and get her some clothes' he thought. It's not good for her to wake up naked if she can have some clothes and she could get sick from the seemingly frigid temperature. 

On the other hand, she's going to get into trouble if any monster were to enter this sanctuary without somebody to defend her. He can't just leave her and return just to find her eaten by a monster or something.

Vader materializes his double-sided scythe, and drew out a circle around where Kid was laying. He further wrote some abstract designs – neither runes nor any form of calligraphy that could be understood – just outside the edge of the circle. With the circle done, he sat in front of it.

"Hu, Zo, Fou, Rih, Zai, Shu, Sih…" Vader chanted "Hu, Zo, Fou, Rih, Zai, Shu, Sih…Hu, Zo, Fou, Rih, Zai, Shu, Sih… Hu, Zo, Fou, Rih, Zai, Shu, Sih… Hu, Zo, Fou, Rih, Zai, Shu, Sih… Hu, Zo, Fou, Rih, Zai, Shu, Sih…Zuh…!"

The circle and its writing surrounding Kid began glowing, then it shoot out a light upward followed by a thin, translucent field.

"Don't worry, I'll be back." Vader stood from his sitting position and walk out of the cave.

Serge leaned on the ledge of his room's balcony. The moon was high in the sky and the village was dark and quiet. The ocean breeze sent some cool air into his room.

"Serge. Are you still awake?" Marge, Serge's mother, called him as she entered her son's room.

Serge turned to his mother and nod.

"You're worried about your friend right?" She asked.

Serge nod again. Kid's absence worried him a lot that he could hardly sleep. He used to wake much later, usually when the sun is high noon, until he found that Kid was missing… He can barely get few hours of sleep every night and wake up an hour or two before dawn.

"At least you should rest. You need some energy for tomorrow." Marge advised him "You can't just stay awake all the time…" with that, Marge left Serge's room.

Serge picked a nearby chair and sat on it, facing the sky through the balcony. He still couldn't sleep. In fact, the longer Kid remains missing, the more relentless he gets. He remained there then moving his chair closer and closer to the ledge. He couldn't think of getting some sleep as he stroll in his room, and couldn't get rid of his thoughts but finding her or even get out of his house and look for her.

Finally, he couldn't take to stay any longer. He went on to pick a piece of paper and wrote some notes with a brush and ink.

He packed up in his pack and grid as much elements as he could and store the rest he could not equip into his grid. He went on and picked the Mastermune and an extra prism swallow. 

To his amazement, the astral amulet started glowing. The talisman never glow like this before. He decided to take it with him too. He left his house quietly, locking the door before heading out of the village. 

"Thank you!" The store clerk called back as Vader left the store, letting the door swing behind him as he carried his grocery goods he had just bought. 

The moment he turned left, a figure appeared in the darkness of the night, blocking his path, right in between the two stair; one leading out of the town of Termina and the other to the residential area. The mystery person had a white cloak, silvery breastplate over his whitish long-sleeve undershirt, light glossy blue lower armor, brown boots and silvery helmet with small bird wing on its sides. On his hand is a silvery rod, indicating that he must be a noble or a mage.

"Who are you?" Vader asked. 

The figure just levitated a few inches off the ground and charges at him like a rocket. Vader leaped aside, dodges, materializes his weapon and took a defensive back stance. 

The figure turned around, pulled out a sword and again charges Vader. This time, the figure was retracting his sword as it prepares to slash.

Vader raised his own weapon and block the figure's sword attack. The sleek attacker jumped over Vader so high and flew towards the statue of a lion, which was just above the stairs beside Vader.

Vader rushed to follow it. The figure was their standing and waiting for him in front of the griffin's statue. It's holding a sword on one hand and the staff on the other. Vader took a defensive back stance as the stranger raises and pointed the tips of its sword towards Vader.

"Halt!" shouts a man behind Vader. 

Vader turned his head and sees a soldier behind him. A Porre officer appeared climbing up the stairs behind Vader followed by 4 other Porre soldiers. All of them were wearing blue uniform and helmet but the officer had a black vest over his chest, signifying that he is a lieutenant. The officer had a revolver made of argent and the other soldiers had rifles. The rifle were no longer the old bolt-action but those are semi-automatic rifle with thirty-round magazine.

Vader turned back to see his mysterious attacker but it was gone. Like in one glance he saw Porre soldiers behind him and the next the stranger in front is gone.

The Porre officer noticed his double-sided scythe and he raised his revolver. "You're under arrest, for the possession of deadly weapon!" The officer exclaimed approaching Vader but Vader jumped away from the officer.

"Why you. Resisting arrest! FIRE!" the officer ordered. 

He started shooting his revolver. His subordinates cocked their weapons, aimed their barrels at Vader and started shooting too. 

Vader easily dodges the bullets while staying at the same spot. He could even see the metal bullets of either silver or shiny iron puffing out of the barrel, twisting and turning out of the barrel and towards him. All bullets were too easy for him to dodge, especially that he was well prepared for such assault.

Soon, all the Porre ran out of bullets. The Porre soldiers detached their clips, letting it fall freely to the ground and reload their weapons.

"_DARK MIST"_ Vader cast his magic, plaguing the already dark area with black fog.

"What's going on." The officer complained as he blindly shoots his gun towards Vader's direction. 

The other Porre troops could fire but didn't do so. They fear that they might hit someone else other than Vader. But alertness was on every soldier's mind. They had kept their barrels aimed and eyes peeled from inside the visor of their helmet if ever Vader were to near them.

The officer shoots his revolver continuously and frenziedly. Soon, his second gun's eight bullets run dry as well and went to his third gun from his hip frantically. The officer was quite aware that he is at the front and center of the group and if he ever ceased shooting, the stranger in black would logically bring him down first.

The fog cleared before the Porre officer could fire his third gun's first shot. The other Porre soldiers looked around too but their target is no where in sight. Vader had already escaped. 

"Darn it!" The officer growl, clenching his gun tightly and kicking the empty bullet shells off.

"Glenn! Glenn!" Serge knocks the door of a house belonging to his companion in his previous adventure.

"What is it?" Glenn swings open the door "Serge?"

"Look…" Serge presented the Astral Amulet. It was glowing faintly.

"That belongs to Kid." Glenn said. "Did you…took it from her."

Serge shook his head. He thought that Glenn might have an answer but he also knew that Glenn would be expecting an explanation from him too.

"We better find Belthasar." Glenn advised "Maybe he knows what to do or we could look for Steena."

"We have to go back to the alternate world." Serge said. "Belthasar knew this better."

Vader entered the cave where he had Kid hidden. The protective circle and its light were still there. 

"I am here!" He greets…then shocked when he found that Kid is missing. "What the!"

He dropped his grocery bag onto the dry ground as he traces some footprints, scent or aura that could tell him where Kid could go. So far, no clear indication that someone had ever came. It is even possible that evidences or traces of anyone being there could have been tampered. So far, there had been none to be able to break through the shield he placed around Kid, as he knew. Vader concluded that anyone, even if it were the blond within, would need to have a level almost as strong as he is, to outwit his magic. 

A splash of water was heard.

Vader looked for the source and there was a man, the very figure that had attacked him in Termina. 

"You!" Vader grunted, angrily. He could not tell what happened but the figure now made him very angry.

"If you want her." The figure stated "Come to the alternate world…in Viper Manor."

Vader just charges but the figure vanished to thin air as he slashes. The figure appeared again behind him in a distance. Vader leaped and made a dive-slash but the figure jumped back and floated high.

"_LUMINAIR!"_ The figure cast a ball of light. 

Flashing blisteringwhite rays and striking lightning pushing everything as it blasted everything else in the cave. The punishing force pushed Vader onto the water. He forces himself up but the chi energy was still too strong. Water was building up from underneath his helmet but it did not matter to him. He could not drown easily. Only when the magic faded then did he got the chance.

As he got up to the knee-level of water. His entire suit and armor was drenched in water, which was dripping back to the stream below. The figure was gone and the cave was burnt all over.

Serge went onto the Opassa Beach with Glenn. The waters were not calm and the breeze seems quite cold, pretty unusual but he didn't mind.

He stepped onto the 'spot' and it turned black with green rays gushing out of the pit. The distortion had return. All along he thought that it was all gone when he and his friends defeated Lavos and freed Schala.

"I didn't know that this is still active…" Glenn comments.

Spending no time, Serge cast out the Astral Amulet. The beach around him faded into darkness as waves of green light and spiraling hue blew all over him and Glenn as they both were suck into the dimension pull.

Almost immediately, they found themselves in the same beach but not the very same it was, they are now at the alternate world.

"Serge." Glenn stated.

"To Viper Manor." Serge said, dashing hastily running out of the beach as Glenn follows him.

Two guards watched over the distance. Watching over whatever could come by. Their familiar iron breastplate, iron helmet and brown uniform indicated that they are Acacia privates.

A stranger in white cloak appeared and it was walking from the mist of the night. He was carrying something on his arms. By the looks of it, it appeared that he had a wrapped person with him.

"Halt!" a guard ordered. 'What is your business here!"

"Something very important…" The stranger stated, unveiling the cloth that had covered the head. A teenage girl with blonde hair was in the cloth

"Identify yourself." The other guard ordered.

"What's going on there!" Karsh called out from inside the gates. He sees the blonde girl and his angry tones turned to shock. "KID?"

"That's right…" The stranger hissed.

"Let him in!" Karsh ordered the guards.

"Not, necessary." The cloaked figure stated. He jumped high over the gates and landed behind Karsh.

Karsh turned around. He could not believe the guy's ability, jumping over the tall gates with such ease. 

"What the?" Karsh gasped

"Too late…" the figure announced "…This girl needs an asylum."

"What do ya mean 'asylum.'" Karsh asked, sounding like he is demanding an explanation.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" Zoah came with Marcy behind him.

"Like, who's this?" Marcy asked.

"You want to know…?" The stranger asked again.

"Yeah, and your name as well." Karsh replied.

"I'm leaving this girl with you…" the figure stated. "She needs some protection."

"Protection?" Marcy sounded confused. "Why?"

"Someone with an all-black attire is after her." The figure answered.

"WHO?" Zoah asked.

"You don't know his name but I do…" the figure stated. "But secrecy is my utmost priority whether you like it or not!"

"We can take it from here." Karsh replied.

"Very well…" the figure came closer to Karsh and hands over Kid.

"Wait, who are you?" Marcy asked. "It would be an honor if let you in the Manor. The general would be pleased for your deeds…"

"I am honor as well for your invitation. But I am sorry, I can't fulfill those." He responds. "My name must remained a secret for security purpose. I must go…" With that he vanished to thin air.

"WHAT THE?" Zoah sounds confused. "HE VANISHED!"

"Let's just take Kid in the manor…" Karsh stated, disregarding all about the stranger. "And tell the general as well."

Vader crouched in front of two standing rocks; grave markers. It appeared new, that the graves must be made recently. Beyond the graves is the sea side cliffs. The sun is not visible in the horizon yet light was shimmering. The morning mist and the cold winds filled the air with chill.

"…May you rest in peace." Vader whispered as he took out two white roses and place one on top of each stone. "It must have been a horrible experience for you to be with the spiders…" he continued, standing upright from his position. "I sure hope you can get the solemn you had desired from now…"

With the spiders…These are the two people Vader found dead in the forest yesterday: the young girl and the old man.

Vader turned away from the graves as he looked around, left to right, search for the horizon. 

"The alternate world…" He paused his sights at the beach, the Opassa beach. "There you are…"

Serge slashes and turns against a dark ghost. The ghost darted back then charged its claws but Serge easily avoided it, thrusting the tip of the Mastermune. It caught the monster in the belly, falling as it dies.

Glenn gave his sword a rising block against two incoming blades from two undead skeletons. He pushed both back, catching one demon with the side swing of his Einlanzer. The second monster race forward but Glenn easily caught it with an X-block of his two Einlanzer. He darted back then charges.

__

"DASH AND GASH" He lunged for the monster, cutting it in the middle and he paused a few yards behind the skeleton. The zombie fell dead in pieces.

Serge jumped into the air, slashing down his Mastermune as he cut an airframe, undead gargoyle, in the air. The flying monster fell dead in the ground.

More monsters are coming, too many to handle.

__

"LUMINAIRE." Serge leaped back to the air, holding a bright white ball made of several compressed sparkling dusts. The sphere cast white lightning as scorching surges aura of "chi" burst to the ground as the light touches it.

Dozens of monsters caught the shining light, burning up. The light intensifies to its peak; the light blinded the whole place. When the sphere faded, the monsters laid dead. Serge landed back on the ground in crouching position.

"Serge?" Glenn asked, approaching.

Serge turned to Glenn as he stood back. "Let us continue to the Manor."

Bojaro sat, Indian style, on the center of a three-step elevated platform. Its not known if he had his eyes closed or opened because his reflective glasses, which is like mirrors made it impossible to see through. His sword lay in front of him, blade inside the scabbard. Besides him was a black orb. 

"The crisis is worsening…" He whispered.

"So you were aware of it…" a woman's voice echoed in the ruin.

Bojaro turned around to the source. "What do you want." He growled, seeing a maiden, no a warrior maiden. She had silvery, ornamented armor; she had a sword on one hand.

"What do you want Lenneth?" Bojaro asked, somewhat irritated.

"You have a responsibility!" She uttered. "You should help them."

"Forget it!" He snarled, turning his back onto the Valkyrie. "They were responsible for it. They altered their own history. It's their fault. It's all their fault and I deny any responsibility."

"Are you willing to stay as stubborn as this…?" She asked, somewhat calm yet demanding. "Are you just going to sit here, meditate and watch countless people bleed, suffer and perished in your visions."

"If that's the case, YES!" He answered, firmly and confidently. "I don't want any historical involvement or anything. And that's FINAL!"

"You refuse." She lowered the tone of her voice. "But I will not!"

"NO!" He stuttered. "You're not going anywhere else. Get back to where you come from. GET OUT!"

"I can't…" Lenneth retorted. "Too many people had sacrificed their lives, just too many."

"And I thought too many lives lost were good to you…" The stout dwarf counters. "You are to collect souls; not save them."

"No, it's not that good." She explains. "If more lives were lost this fast. It would be the end of the human race. The time is getting near for the fate of a disastrous future to seal."

"I don't care." Bojaro rejects. "They didn't even do so to their fellow beings as well. Why should I…"

"Bojaro…" She said. "Don't forget who you are and why you were here."

"Don't remind me of my heritage!" He protests, picking up his sword from the ground.

"If you refuse." She uttered. "At least tell me how to get there. I'll do it myself without you."

"NO!" He denies. "Absolutely not!" Bojaro unsheathed his sword. "For the last time, get out! OUT! And STAY OUT!"

"Bojaro, put down your sword!" She demands. "This is not the time to get violent!"

"Ha!" Bojaro gasp. "You'll get nothing from me. The fate of the future must either seal or get worse if altered. So I'm not letting you get there in any way."

"What do you mean." Lenneth asked, sounding misunderstood.

"This would be something only the wise could understand…" Bojaro taunts. "The point is…if you don't bother it, then it doesn't bother you."

"Talk some sense Bojaro." She demands.

"See!" He points out. "You can't even understood the nature of 'Time' itself."

"Bojaro!" her soft tone turned angry. "I don't have time for this. I have to do something to save the human race. Lavos' power is now felt over Midguard and Asgard as well."

"I don't care…" Bojaro, still stubborn. "Even Lavos' power could affect this world I am in…So what."

"Are you willing to succumb to him?" She asked, somehow demanding. "Even with all your strength and wisdom?"

"Yes." He answered, promptly. 

It was absolutely out of the warrior maiden's expectation that the plump man would say yes to destruction. What she expected the least was that, he would take time to think and not to say 'yes' so quickly and easily.

"Unless you go out there," He continues. "And make matters worse. Because time will turn nasty to everyone who alters it."

"But we can't just wait and let the apocalypse get here…" She protest.

"You can't but I will." He countered, holding the hilt of his sword tightly.

"Fine!" She replied. "If you just remained like that." Lenneth turned and walked away from him "I won't waste any more time here." With that, Lenneth disappeared.

"Stupid…" Bojaro snarled.

He was angry, angrier than Lenneth. The dwarf hated visitors, especially the Valkyrie. He wanted peace and all his replies were results of impatience he had all the years, or centuries he had lived. Bojaro was not known for arrogance but his slang would become boastful once he gets angry.

"You'll just ruined everything." He whispered in a barely audible tone. "Ruin what is already ruined."

Serge and Glenn finally reached the manor after several more battles with monsters between Opassa beach in the south west and to the dragoon's lair. The sun was high, almost noon.

"Sir Glenn!" A guard from the gate called.

"Is Belthasar here?" Glenn asked, panting. Serge stood beside him, silent.

"No, but there is something important I have to tell you." The guard said. "Kid is in the Manor."

"Kid!" Glenn gasped.

"Is she alright!" Serge gasped.

"No." The guard answered.

"What happened." Glenn asked.

"Kid is in Miss Riddel's room." The guard answered.

"Serge." Glenn turned to but Serge is gone.

Serge had already opened the gate and was racing towards the manor.

"Serge!" Glenn called out following him.

Serge had entered the manor, in the hallway, in the red doors that leads to the second floor. Glenn followed him but Serge was ahead and running too fast.

The staircase was high up; it acts like an elevator. Serge couldn't get up the usual way but he jumps high enough that he managed to reach the third floor for the general's room and that of Riddel.

"Kid!" Serge banged against the door to Riddel's room. Nobody answered.

"Stop it Serge!" A man's voice came.

Serge turned around and sees Karsh, Viper and Glenn. 

"Serge." Karsh said. "You shouldn't get that excited. She's still alive."

The door opened. 

"Yes" Riddel answered.

"I apologize for Serge's rash behavior." Glenn said.

"It's alright." Riddel replied. "Serge, you can see her."

Serge walked cautiously into Riddel's room. Glenn, Karsh, and Viper followed Riddel last. Serge saw Kid lying on Riddel's bed. She had a white blanket covering her body except her head. Serge crouched beside the bed as he held her had.

"She can't hear you…" Riddel notify him. "She seemed to be in a coma."

"What happened to her?" Glenn asked.

"Man in white cloak and silver armor came here." Karsh answered. "He brought Kid here. Kid had been asleep he whole time and had not awaken yet."

"Why is she asleep?" Glenn asked.

"I don't know." Viper answered. "None of us know."

"Not even with Lucia?" Glenn asked, sounding very doubtful.

"Lucia cannot help us." Karsh replied. "We need Doc for this but I think it is too dangerous now."

"What's going on?" Glenn sounded confused.

"Ever since you left." Viper said. "Many monsters got loss. They are getting very numerous and they are attacking like mad." Viper looked quite serious then "It seems like there is a rebellion"

"That's odd…" Glenn whispered.

"The man who brought her here warned us." Karsh said. "Someone in all black will come to get her."

"When?" Glenn asked.

"I don't know. He did not tell me." Karsh replied.

A knocking came from the door. Viper opened and answered it. 

"Doc." Viper shuddered, surprise to see a doctor from Guldove get to the mainland. "But your clinic…"

"It's alright," Doc replied. "I know what happened. Can I check on Kid's condition?"

"Certainly…" Viper replied.

Chapter 3: Battleground Manor

The beach was, at first, peaceful. Ocean waves crashing on the shore lightly. Then silence breaks; a lavender flame began burning on a single spot. The fire grew larger and larger then slowly darkens to purple and to violet as it dies out. A figure of a person began taking shape from the dying fire. The person was crouching and had a black motorcycle helmet, black suit and cape with cartridge belt and suspender. Its Vader!

Vader looked around. The beach seemed pretty much the same yet he could 'read' that their contents were just different.

"The alternate world…" He whispered to himself, turning his head northwards "I'm coming for you!" He levitates to the air and flew like a rocket due north.

Back in the manor. Serge, Karsh, Viper, Glenn, Zoah, and Marcy waited. Doc came out of the Riddel's room. He looked very upset.

"What's wrong Doc" Karsh asked.

"Kid seemed to be in a physical and emotional fatigue." Doc said, then Riddel went out of her room.

"Why?" Serge asked but Doc just shook his head.

"I think she had been raped." Doc said softly.

"WHAT!" Everybody got shocked and yelled in monotone.

"Who did it!" Serge said angrily.

"It's not human who did it. I can tell it." Doc replied. "But I cannot tell if it is some animal or something."

"But I wondered why." Viper sounds confused. "Why did she end up like this."

"What bugs me more is that there is no semen…" Doc points out. "…Except for her hair."

Orlha dashes into the group. The rest of the gang were alert and were able to shift their attention before the muscular bartender could get near enough.

"Everyone one!" She called out as Greco followed behind her. "We have trouble, the blackguard is here."

"It's him!" Karsh said.

"Battle station!" Viper called out. "We must move Kid to my secret backroom. Quick!"

"Yes sir!" Karsh replied, dashing into Riddel's room with the others.

An Acacia private swings his sword down but Vader easily block it by raising the pole of his weapon. He turned the pole around the sword and down, knocking the dragoon.

Two more dragoons came charging. Vader stretched out his Ore and slashed, reaching and piercing the breastplates of his attackers. The two three footer swords were easily outreached by the double scythe's ten feet length. The two dragoons fell like unbalanced mannequins.

Vader slashes his scythe, cutting the manor's gate in a V-shape. The cut marks flashed as the metal-to-metal bonds broke, allowing the gate's bars to detach and fell into several pieces. 

More dragoons came. This time, there are five dragoons waiting for him. One was a sergeant, wearing golden breastplate and helmet in white uniform and armed with a battle-axe and the rest were privates with silver breastplates and helmet, brown uniforms and armed with swords. 

"Attack!" the sergeant ordered. 

All five dragoons came for him. Vader managed to gracefully bock their attack though his adversaries were having a hard time getting the hang of it. Vader held his Ore with two hands while the dragoons pushed with all their might, trying to overpower the assassin with their strength. 

The sides of victory changed. All dragoons were pushed backed. Some fell off their balance while others remained on their feet. Some were pushed farther than the others, making them difficult for a simultaneous attack.

One dragoon hastily charges back, slashes his sword but Vader easily avoided it, caught him by a karate chop at the shoulder. The dragoon fell motionless, face first on the ground.

The rest of the band came back for him. Slashing, thrusting, and swinging their weapons for him as they charges. Vader again slashed back at them, while blocking. Vader made three hard swing as he bocks back their weapons, the crash of their weapons sent strong shocks all over their body, making the dragoons tremble out of control for a second. An unlucky dragoon had his back caught by the ore's blade as he was forced to turn by the impact.

"_Uplift_." Vader cast his yellow crystal element. A piece of bock, the size of a fifteen-inch TV rose and crashes on the head of the third Acacia. The private fell on the ground, out cold.

Two are left, attacking back simultaneously. At close distance, Vader block the sergeant's axe with his pole while catching the other dragoon's sword with his bare palm. Amazingly, his palm didn't even got scratched nor did the black assassin gasped in pain. 

Very quickly, Vader gave the private a front kick, blowing him a full twenty meters back as he pushed the sergeant away. The last private lay motionless and could not recover from the blow. The sergeant took several extra steps back. 

"_ACACIA BLADE_!" He dashes his blade for a slash. Vader turned his back. Then, holding his weapon one hand slashes as the sergeant got near for the kill. The sergeant stopped, axe down like he's done his cut, a few feet behind Vader, who also paused in an after-slash posture, weapon stretching out.

The sergeant dropped his weapon, exhaling with a sound of exhaustion before, he too, fell like the other privates.

A dragoon riding on the bird-like reptile came charging, pointing its lance towards Vader. The assassin got a hold on the lance, bend it like a lever, causing the dragoon to be launched off.

Two dragon-riding dragoons from nowhere also entered the scene, charging their lances as well. Vader jumped and knocked them off their beast with two alternating scissor-kicks. 

Vader landed smoothly on the ground, crouching. He turned around only to be met with flame. Another dragon rider had blown flames on him. As the fires cleared, Vader stood, unharmed, not even a sign of burn. Not even a single candlelight was scorching him. He lunged into the air, over the dragoon and landed on the doorstep of the manor. The dragoon fell off his cavalry, helmet broken.

"GET HIM!" A dragoon barks as he lunged for Vader. A sea of dragoons followed, like a hundred of them or so, and stormed into the entrance, like a huge mass of rioters. Vader held his double scythe with his two hands as the dragoons pushed him back as they, erroneously, pushed Vader into the manor and broke through the locked door instead of overpowering him.

The intentional but unplanned attacked forced Vader into the manor. Vader held all six dragoons, backed by the force of over a hundred outside the entrance and counting. He placed his feet behind him, bending it to build up friction. Then the force turned as friction built up. Vader managed to push them all back, out of the manor, he was even able to knock them back, and all three hundred of them outside and nearly choking the nearest 'flat'.

"_Upheaval_." Vader casts his element. Several, large, pointed rocks rose from the ground. The entrance was completely blocked off. The rocks grew even further outside the manor than inside, making it impossible to go in through the door.

"_Genius" _Vader cast another element, boosting his magic. "_Upheaval_." He calls as he uses another element of the same kind. More rocks rose from outside the manor. It blocked off the walls as well. Mountains of looping rocks later shielded the whole manor. It's now impossible for the dragoons to get in, even through windows, unless the rocks were to be crushed.

"_Ice Blast!"_ He cast another element. The rocks outside are now coated in a thick layer of ice. Climbing it would only cause a fatal slip.

Vader turned to the red door but two half circle doors swing open. A thin Acacia sergeant came from the left then another stout Acacia sergeant came from the right. It's Solt and Peppor.

"The nerd he got in!" The stout dragoon said. "Let's shake it."

"And shake it!" the other dragoon said. "As Peppor would say."

As Solt and Peppor got into their fighting pose, five more dragoons form each corridor stormed in. 

Vader took his fighting pose, back stance, as all one dozen dragoons lung for him. Vader was able to easily block the attacks. Raising and slashing back each of them, as the band was forced back in the first round.

"Let's shake this one out Solt!" Peppor said.

"Affirmatively affirmative!" Solt answered

"_CROSS CUT_!"

The shaker brothers dashed back as they both charged and thrust their axes to Vader. But Vader blocked their crossing attacks easily, holding his pole vertically then slashing it upward, putting the two dragoons down.

"_Magma Bomb_." Molten rocks hurled for the dragoons, scorching them with burns as the explosion forced them to move back.

"_Tornado!"_ Vader cast a twister in the hallway. He waved his hands to the side, blowing the dragoons back into the corridors where they came from. The monsoon winds pushed them farther, not just to the entrance of the corridor but deep into the ends of the corridor that a few dragoons fell off the stairs at the end.

"_Fire pillar_." Vader casts flames, like campfire. The cage-like doors are welded, trapping the dragoons in.

Vader faced in front of the front door. He pushed it but it won't budge, it must be locked. Looking around he sees a giant snake statue. By simply looking at it, he could sense that they are connected. The statue might be the key, a knob or the lock of the door.

Vader came closer to the statue. He could easily realize that it needs a certain number of turns to open the door. Vader crouches and held the bottom of the snake, electrical lavender sparks gushing out of his arm to his hand and it into the snake.

The snake statue turned, two times to the right and it stopped. The snake then turned three times to the left then stopped. The door swung opened without him touching it.

Vader dashes in. A stair leads him up to the second floor. Upon reaching the second floor, six figures awaited.

From the left to the right the figures are… Zoah, the very muscular man, armed with spectral gloves and wore a metallic, nearly cylindrical, masked. Marcy, a nine year old blonde girl, she had a spectral glove as well as a tiny shield. Karsh, he had a long violet hair and armed with a spectral axe. Viper, the oldest in the group, he wore a black uniform, signifying that he is a general, and had his weapon of choice in his hand: the Viper's Venom. Glenn was wearing his usual armor and wielded two Einlanzers. And Serge, a teenager with a red bandana, he had the Mastermune and is now taking battle stance.

"THIS IS WHERE YOUR JOURNEY ENDS!" Zoah warns, waving his arms across his view.

"Like, you could say yer prayers now!" Marcy taunts, placing palms beside her mouth to amplify her voice.

"We can't allow you to pass any further." Viper cautions.

"We will take you on." Karsh smirked.

Serge charges ahead of the rest. He thrust his Mastermune into Vader but missed as Vader shoved his shoulder to avoid it. Serge turned, holding his Mastermune firmly, making a round, fierce attack. Vader moved his Ore to the left and himself further, blocking it. Serge spins his weapon above him like a helicopter propeller, and slashing down as it gained enough momentum. Vader took one step back, raised his Ore and blocked. The Mastermune and the Ore of Nightmare clashed hard, blade-to-blade. 

Vader countered, jumping into the air as he swings his weapon down but Serge dodged the spot. Vader landed behind Serge. He turned around and blocked the incoming slashes from Glenn's two Einlanzer and Viper's triple-bladed swords as he turned again to block Serge. The remaining Devas dragoon, Karsh, Marcy, and Zoah joined the clash. 

Vader jumped to his left, busy blocking as Viper, Glenn, Serge, and Karsh slashed and thrust their weapon simultaneously.

"_GYRONIMO_" Zoah, spinning his limbs and himself came like a helicopter and propels towards Vader like a rocket. Vader raised his guard as he held his weapon on both hands as Zoah and he made impact.

Vader was initially pushed back into the wall but overpowered Zoah. He pushed Zoah off and brought him down to the ground. Raising his weapon, Vader swings it down his scythe, it would be for the kill but Glenn jumped in and X-blocked the scythe's blade.

"_DASH AND SLASH_" Serge budged in, sprinting as he gain momentum. Vader lowered and hid behind the thin pole of his Ore as Serge's Mastermune clashes.

Glenn made an outside slash from his left towards Vader. Vader leaped over his sword, jumping over Glenn, somersault in the air and on towards the staircase.

Vader reached the staircase but Marcy shoots out her thin strings, blocking and nearly catching Vader. Viper charges towards Vader but his slashes were blocked back. In the mist of the attack, Viper lost Vader. He looked up and Vader had his blade swinging down. Viper jumped back, at the same time, took a very defensive block.

Two meters of space separated Vader and Viper, face to face. The general looked at Vader and near him are redder spots at the red carpet between him and the scythe holder. Viper felt his leg wet. He looked down and sees blood right above his knee. He was mortally wounded.

"General!" Karsh called out, noticing that Vader wounded Viper.

Zoah, Glenn and Serge came for Vader. Glenn made it ahead, slashing his holy swords. Vader easily parry each of them and countered with his own slash. Glenn jumped back as he retreat, avoiding the fatal blade as Serge jumped in the line of attack.

Serge jabbed his Mastermune but Vader evaded it with the swing of his shoulder and struck Serge's chest with a sideward kick. 

Zoah caught Vader from behind, wrapping his arms around the black-suited masked man, hopping to immobilize his arms. Despite Zoah's strength and his mammoth built, Vader broke free without much effort. Zoah retreated as Vader slashed his Ore as he turned. 

But Zoah was caught in the belly, just a scratch in the dragoon's standard.

"_CAT'S CRADLE_." Marcy shoots out her strings. Three out of the six strings caught Vader. The little blonde pulled back the strings but Vader won't go down. 

Vader did just what the girl had done, complete retaliation. Marcy was overpowered. Vader rapidly swing and twist the pole of his weapon. Marcy's strings were tangled. 

Vader pulled back his weapon like a lever, taking with it the string and Marcy. He swings it upward, hurling Marcy up, slashes his blade to cut the string. Marcy managed to land safely to the ground as Glenn and Karsh came charging to Vader.

Karsh made a violent, fierce swing of his axe. Vader was able to block it as he retreated to the right side of the room turning twice along the way to make sure he was safe to stepped further.

Glenn followed, swinging the two Einlanzers. Vader dodged them without blocking. Serge came to Glenn's aid, Karsh followed. Viper was on his feet and followed them, cordoning the assassin. Zoah and Marcy came but before they could reach the rest…Vader stroked his scythe on the floor, sparking violet fire. 

Viper, Glenn, Karsh, and Serge felt their feet growing numb. A spell of some sort made its way to their head, making them dizzy. Vader broke through the group that had him trapped. Zoah run himself against Vader. 

"_Aqua Beam_." Marcy shoots out a line of high-pressure water from Vader's side. Hit directly but it seemed it doesn't hurt him at all.

Zoah and Vader held on to the Ore of Nightmare, pushing against each other. Just a second after holding the Ore, Zoah felt his hands having burning sensation. Zoah wouldn't let go, despite the burns.

"Get off!" Vader grunted, kicking Zoah at the chest, right into the wound. Zoah was forcefully losses from his grip. He looked at his hands; the spectral gloves he wore were burned. The Ore had burned through the gloved and his skin was toasted black.

Serge, Glenn, Karsh and Viper got onto their feet as they recover. Vader retreated down the hallway and to the path leading to the west wing of the manor. Serge and Glenn rushed ahead, Karsh followed and Viper. 

Vader slashes his long-reaching weapon but Serge and Glenn easily dodged and blocked it.

Vader opened the sliding half cylinder door, slipping in. Serge Glenn Karsh and Viper. They found themselves on a bridge that leads to the east chamber of the manor, the keeping room. It was no surprise for the dragoons and Serge but Vader, it was.

"_Ice Blast_" Vader cast ice onto the door. Viper just made it in but Marcy and Zoah could not follow as the ice blocked the way. Vader continued taking back stance while stepping back as the general's group came closer for him.

"_DASH AND GASH_" Glenn charges, slash his holy swords. Vader blocked it with his scythe then pushed Glenn back. 

Serge jumped from above, pointing his swallow for a thrusting blow. Vader raised his weapon as he blocked Serge's attack. Serge landed and turned as he swings the Mastermune. Vader blocked it as well then again; Serge slashed back only to be blocked again. Karsh came to Serge's aid then Glenn rushes in. Three fighters are in for Vader. His long weapon blocked their blows well.

"_Aero Blaster_!" Karsh used his element, sending supersonic waves to Vader. Vader raised his weapon to block but he was pushed back for five meters. 

Vader retreated further to the left end of the bridge, entering the left wing. He entered the room and it was a dead end. Walls all over, a circle table cut by two smaller circles and four snake statues in four snake statues. Vader jumped on top of the table, ignoring the treasure chest.

"There is no escape!" Viper entered the room, first. Serge next, then Glenn and Karsh, holding their weapons tightly.

Viper charges first, clashing his triple bladed sword against the much longer blades of Vader. Viper continues slashing offensively, swinging his sword in every direction, while striking the hilt at close distance and kicking while necessary. Vader was forced to step back a bit with every slash, pushed from the left to the front of the central table. Vader leaped to his right, to the hind of the table.

Just as Vader had got the general's attack at bay, Karsh and Serge took in. Serge thrust his Mastermune as Karsh swing his axe in the air, building a momentum and another to Vader. Vader avoided Serge's holy weapon while blocking Karsh's axe.

Vader leaped over Serge and Karsh. Behind them, he lands and Glenn caught Vader's shoulder with a jab at one of his Einlanzer. Vader took a one-step-retreat, uprooting the Einlanzer off his shoulder but nearly hitting Karsh and Serge.

Serge slashed his swallow, cutting Vader's arm near the shoulder. Strangely, there was no blood gushing out of Vader injuries, just a glowing lavender slash. Vader turned, slashing his Ore around. Serge raised his Mastermune, effectively blocking it from nearly cutting his face. Karsh did the same as Serge. His spectral axe was cut in half from the blade but he was far enough from getting a wound.

"That was close…" Karsh gasped. "Glenn!" Karsh yelped seeing Glenn down on the ground but Vader was gone. No, he's on the table, set his sight, and getting to the door. "_Revive_." Karsh cast a healing element on Glenn. Serge budges in "_Cure Plus."_

Vader was nearing door then Viper jumps in between, blocking the portal. Viper rushed with his trust. Vader turned with his weapon. The Ore of Nightmare's very curve blade tangles with the Viper's own, like two hooks holding one another. Viper pulled buck his sword but could successfully do so. 

Vader twist the pole of his Ore, causing the general to loose his grip on his Viper's Venom. Vader pulled up and swing his Ore, taking the general's sword with it. The triple-bladed sword lost its 'bonding hang' on the Ore, darting the Venom into the high wall, too high to reach without a ladder.

Viper kicked Vader in the belly in the mist of his action. He deployed an extra sword from his waist, a spectral sword, and stabbed it on Vader's chest. Viper pushed it further until only the hilt of the sword had not sunk in. As the whole blade of the sword went in and through Vader, Viper, holding the hilt of his sword, pushed him a few feet in front of the table. 

He knocked the blackguard down as he pushed before pulling out his sword out of Vader's chest. Viper retreated panting from the torturous attack he had inflicted.

Vader got up then Karsh, holding a silver axe in each hand, slashed once. Vader blocked one axe but Karsh jabbed the pointy tip of his other axe right into Vader's abdomen. Karsh pulled back his axe then jumped back.

__

"DASH AND SLASH"

"DASH AND GASH"

Serge and Glenn leaped back then raced at blazing speed as they slash their holy weapons in the air, approaching Vader. They raced together, blades glowing from the burning speed, crossing each other's path as they struck Vader in an 'X'. Vader had raised his weapon to block the attack but the two Einlanzers and the Mastermune cut the pole of the Ore of Nightmare, dividing it into two scythes, before going through Vader.

"_AXIOMATIC_."

Karsh stepped in just as Glenn and Serge had cleared. Karsh swings his two axes and turned like a top. The silver axes glowed green and illuminating brighter with every strike. After the two axes done their sixth strike, Karsh simultaneously thrust his axes into Vader.

Vader was pushed back even further. His back accidentally hit and opened the treasure chest on the table at the wrong side, activating the trapped door. He fell as the floor opened and gave way, but he still held his weapon, which is now had turned into two scythes.

"Let's follow him!" Viper called out, jumping in the hole where Vader had fallen. Serge next and Glenn third.

"Um…I'm gonna need to replace these." Karsh said, raising his silver axes bit, blades had partially melted. He smirked as he sees an extra spectral axe decorated on the wall.

Vader crashed, back first inside the twenty-five feet, cylindrical, roofless cell. He got up slowly and barely noticed as he looked down his chest to see some six or so scratches and cuts he had from the battle. There was a door on the cage but lock so he had the cell cut to make one exit. 

Three Acacia privates stormed in the room, one from each entrance and one from the basement. The Dragoons drawing out their swords but Vader just ignored them as he makes his run out to the left hall.

A dragoon bravely stood in his way, holding a sword firmly. "In the name of the Acacia Dragoon." The private announced. "Surrender!" Words seem no effect on him, Vader simply slashed one of his scythes, wounding the dragoon and kicking him off his path.

General Viper landed in the opened cage just as Vader left the room. "Stop him." Viper ordered to his dragoons as he dashes out of the cage. Glenn and Serge dropped by just as the general left the room.

Vader continued to sprint to the left but in the end, at the stairs, eight Acacia dragoons came and barricade his way. He turned around only to find his path blocked by the general, two dragoons, Glenn and Serge.

A dragoon from the stairs charges, raising his sword for a slash, but Vader thrust the tip of his scythe into his chest. Vader turned around and, using his other scythe cuts the chest of the dragoon.

Another dragoon, this one from beside the general, charges to slash. Vader, without turning, elbowed on the dragoon. The dragoon's breastplate broke from the impact.

Vader jumped, somersault gracefully over the general and his group. He turned to run to the other direction but then…

"_DRAGON RIDER_." Karsh was in front of him, charging as he climbed into his dragon.

"_SONIC SWORD." _Glenn slashes his Einlanzers, streaking green aura from the blade. The gleaming slashes hit Vader just as Karsh, on a dragon, knocked him into the ground.

Vader immediately got up only to see Viper getting really close.

"_DIVE AND DRIVE_." Glenn throws one of his Einlanzer into the air. The blades of the holy sword sunk into the back of Vader's neck and into his spine. Glenn dived from above, held the hilt of his sunken sword to keep Vader in place. 

"_G-FORCE_." The general upper cuts a slash from his spectral sword right into his shoulder. Viper leaps up to the air, swinging his sword over his head a bit before gliding down for a finishing strike blow. The general dived and cuts Vader in the front. A strong strike as it trembles the floor with it.

Viper and Glenn cleared as Serge leaps into the air. "_LUMINAIRE."_ Serge cast a bright ball full of energy. Scorching light and waves blew into the ground, as Vader's laying figure was lost in the glare.

As the light fades, Vader's figure reappeared, still lying. The scorching heat chars the carpet. The walls were bleached from dark gray to dirty white.

"Is he…" An Acacia private gasped. "…Dead?"

"Stand back!" Viper barked as Vader started budging. 

Vader raised his leg and started to move to crouching position then standing. Scars riddled all over him, mostly above the belt. 

"He's tough…" Karsh commented, then Vader began glowing then blinking lavender and back to black. "What the!"

A bright light, a mixture of white, lavender, violet, and purple bursts its way from the floor and from Vader. The light intensifies followed by waves of unusual winds that don't feel any 'cold pressure' blew onto everyone but Vader. More like a disturbance field caused by the intense light.

"That light!" A dragoon gasped.

"It's Trance!" Viper spoke, feeling shocked.

The pillar of light turned off almost instantly, but Vader is still glowing in an alternate of lavender, white, purple, red, blue, pink, and violet. His entire body seems to be on fire of the same changing color as well. He attached back his two scythes simply by connecting the broken section with each other, restoring his Ore.

Serge hastily charges. Vader turned to the incoming Serge and swing his fiery Ore. Serge raised his Mastermune in defense but he was blown back. His Mastermune flying from his hands and Serge fell back to the ground. Unusually black burns and deep cuts were all over his chest, abdomen, legs, and arms.

"Serge!" Glenn screamed, turning to Vader as he charges.

"Glenn!" Viper called out, following Glenn.

Vader turned to Glenn and Viper. Glenn lifted to the air as he swings down his swords. Vader jumped back and, without hesitation, gash his Ore around twice. Glenn could see Vader's blazing movement but it was too fast for him to evade. Vader had gotten much faster than before and he was caught in the chest and belly. His leather suit was burned all over and through him. Glenn felt his body going limp; he fell on his knees before his face kissed the ground.

"_AIR FORCE_!" Viper slashes out three crescent, sonic blades and pushes it to Vader. Vader jumped back and charges; he retracted his double scythe, preparing for a cut. As the 'airforce' blades were nearing, Vader slashed his Ore, cutting through the sonic, yellow slashes. He went onward, swing his blade on his side on one hand and as he leads his own blades right through the general. The aged man saw that the assassin in trance was too fast to evade and raised his sword for the sturdiest block he could against the Ore. 

The general's defense was easily mismatched and he was blown back. His spectral sword went flying from his hand. The sword's blade shattered into pieces as it contacts the ground. Like Serge and Glenn, Viper fell motionless into the ground with multiple patches of deep wounds and scorching burns. 

"Why you." Karsh snarled in rage "AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGG!"

Karsh went on, axe behind him as he gripped it. Vader stood still at his back and Karsh swing his axe so fast and strong he felt his arm could detach from his shoulder. His axe was an inch before it could strike the black-cape killer. Karsh could feel it too near for Vader to escape. 

But the assassin disappeared. Karsh couldn't even see where it went. He turned his head quickly, to look around and to find Vader before he could get killed as well. He couldn't see him anywhere nor do the dragoons with him could show a sign of warning to where Vader is. Vader is now in trance and he is supposed to be easier to find because he is glowing.

Before he could turn to his back, Karsh's felt a gash from behind then his legs going numb. Blood seeped out of his mouth and down his chin. He looked down and sees a huge, blood soaked, curve blade at his stomach. It's the sharp of Vader's Ore, as Karsh could identify it, and it had struck him from behind. The Devas couldn't turn any longer, he tried to gasp but couldn't either. He even lost his grip on his axe. The blades retracted back and he fell back to the ground then his head knocked struck the ground.

The bloody edged metal retracted, poles resting on a shoulder, Vader's shoulder. The remaining dragoons took a few steps back after seeing the horrific, stealthy slaughter. The Acacia dragoons were known to be brave, never running away from battle, but this time things become pretty different. The glowing Vader walked forth the stairs. The dragoons didn't run from that stairs they barricade though they didn't stay in one place either. In fact, they started to retreat step by step.

"_STORM BLOW_!" An Acacia private braves the element of fear, charging as he prepares for the cut. Vader swings his Ore around in half circle and the seemingly fearless dragoon's sword was sliced in half as his belly gushed out blood, explicitly staining the floor.

"Charge!" An Acacia sergeant barks, a number of other dragoons followed his orders but some just run away. To them, fighting Vader further is pure lunacy…the assassin is too strong.

"_REAPER'S SMOG._" A white, lavender shaded, fast moving fog blew out of Vader. The approaching dragoons dared to and move into the mist. Just as they entered, they felt their bodies burning and freezing at the same time then scorching electricity followed by madly itching and pain. The dragoons away from the fog heard their companions inside it scream to their death before they were silence, forcing the remainders to run for their lives.

The fog spread out all over the basement of the manor. Many dragoons turned to run from it but they are still caught. Their screams can be heard but only a few seconds after they were engulfed. When the fogs disappeared, the dragoons all over lay dead.

A burst of white light came back to Vader as he rushed into the first floor then to the stairs leading to the second floor. It intensifies and faded back and Vader's glowing complexion vanished. It was the end of his trance.

Vader entered the second floor for the second time. He sees Zoah and Marcy, standing side by side. Seeing his adversaries having no edged weapon, Vader dematerialize his to thin air.

"YOU!" Zoah grunted. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THE GENERAL!"

"Just get out of my way." Vader said softly but its tones were demanding.

"Like, we would?" Marcy shuddered. "NO WAY, NOT TO YOU!"

Zoah charges fist in front. Vader blocked it with his palm, kicked him in the belly once then a bigger blow that pushed him back for ten meters.

"_STRING PHONE_." Marcy leaps to the air spinning her threads and shoots them towards Vader.

"_WIRE TAPPER._" Vader shoots out his own strings, without leaping.

Marcy's string attached those of Vader during their shootouts. Her strings sent on bluish cold signals while those of Vader deploy lavender ones. The 'signals' collided at the attachment points of their strings and a combination of blue and purple auras fused and created an explosion that blew them, including Zoah, apart.

"MARCY!" Zoah called out. "ARE YOU ALRIGHT!"

"Yes." Marcy gasped "I'm…"

"_Free Fall_."

Marcy vanished. A girl's scream was heard, somewhere from outside the window. Zoah turned to the glass window and sees a little blonde falling. No it's Marcy!

"MARCY…!" Zoah rushed to the window and smashed the glass with his fist. "MARCY, ARE YOU ALL RIGHT!" he called out, seeing Marcy lying motionless on the grassy ground. "MARCY…!" He called out again but Marcy still didn't respond.

"_Cure_." Zoah cast an element; blue sparkles of magic surrounded Marcy but then…

"MARCY, PLEASE ANSWER ME." Zoah called out again, yet Marcy still lay motionless. "MARCY…!" 

Zoah turned his attention to Vader "YOU KILLED HER…!"

"Out of my way." Vader ordered. "I had no interest to kill nor hurt you too."

Zoah charges hands up for grappling. Vader also did the same and they locked their hands together, pushing each other through it. Zoah is strong but he was pushback by the smaller Vader.

"Give up and I'll let you go." Vader gave him an offer to surrender.

"NEVER!" Zoah replied gallantly.

Vader tighten his grip on Zoah's. Cracking sound of bones and tendons were heard and Zoah screamed, feeling his hands being crushed. Vader moved his arms down in semicircle, taking those of Zoah as well.

"Will you give up?" Vader asked.

"OVER MY DEAD BODY INFIDEL." Zoah grunted, despite the difficulty to speak and the painful urge to surrender.

Vader pulled up his arms abruptly, causing Zoah's own wrist, elbow joint, and shoulder to concussion. Zoah looses his grip from his internally torn arms. By chance, Vader let go of his grip. Zoah fell on the floor panting then…

"_Thunder Storm."_

Angry clouds shrouded the manor's ceiling. Yellow lightning then riddled and stuck down, down to Vader. The thrusting bolts continued their torrent strikes then ending with one, larger lightning. The whole second floor ended in an electrical explosion, dead center at Vader. The clouds then vanished as they settle but Vader is still standing unharmed.

"If that's what you want…" Vader spoke.

"THAT CAN'T BE…" Zoah gasped.

"So be it!" Vader, dashing in the air as he kicked Zoah in the belly. Zoah's masked cough out some blood, leaving a trail of red dots before the force of the kick threw him out the large window.

Vader turned to the staircase but it was high up. Somebody must have left it that way to forbid anyone from going up. He approached it anyway and jumped up to reach the second floor on his feet, without hanging on the stair's ledge. 

As he walked forth to the dark opening… 

"Hayiah!" a pound came into his chest and knock him back. He fell back into the second floor, back landing in the red carpet. Vader had sworn that someone caught him off guard and he got kicked in the chest.

Vader slowly pushed himself up and there, he sees someone in black ninja costume, red scarf covered its mouth and a yellow-brown cone-shaped hair.

"You-are-strong." It said "But-Grobyc-is-stronger!"

Grobyc lunged in a roundhouse kick. Vader got onto his feet and blocked it from hitting his head. Grobyc then applied another round house kick directed to his stomach but Vader blocked it downward. Vader turned and used a dragon tail whip (kick) on the ninja cyborg. Grobyc rise to a kick, hitting his leg with Vader. After the strike, both jumped back in retreat.

"Grobyc-is-strongest-cyborg." The ninja said. "Grobyc-will-defeat-you!"

"We'll see about that…" Vader replied. He pressing a switch in his shoulder and his cape and shoulder piece fell off.

Grobyc and Vader lunged for to resumed their fights. Grobyc delivered as much kicks first then a dozen punches and kick. Vader easily avoided them, jumped back and side thrust kick on Grobyc.

The ninja was blown back for a full fifteen meters into the air. Vader jumped and lunged in a flying dragon kick. Just as his foot neared for Grobyc, a third person, a blonde girl jumped from above him and knocks his head with her spinning heel.

Vader fell flat on the floor. He stood again and sees his surprise attacker taking a back stance pose right in front of him. Grobyc landed on his feet as Vader takes his fighting stance in front of the girl.

"Orlha." Grobyc gasped at the blonde girl.

"Grobyc." Orlha said.

Greco entered the scene, jumping from the staircase. "Let's take him down."

Orlha, Grobyc, and Greco lunged for the lone masked stranger. Vader had his hands and feet full for the defense, he couldn't have the chance to break the continuous attack of all three of them. Orlha had her break her fist broke right through Vader's guard and through his belly. 

Vader was pushed back again. Grobyc lunged for him and Vader kicked him but missed. The ninja caught his leg and Orlha swept her heel into his chest just as Grobyc let go.

"_Gravity blow_." Greco cast a ball made of gravity and blew Vader off to the ceiling upon contact, falling then back to the ground.

"Its-all-over." Grobyc warns.

"You're going down!" Orlha points out.

Vader slowly stood back to his feet. "We…shall see…_WAVE LIGHT_!" Vader started to feel more energy seeping in his body. A pillar of light shined around him and then vanished.

Grobyc charges. He kicked at Vader with a combination of front, roundhouse, side, and dragon tail whip. Vader stood still, not blocking but not hurt. 

"What-is-going-on?" The ninja gasped and puzzled. 

Vader struck Grobyc at the chest with a side chop. Grobyc fell onto the ground, brushing his back on as the force pushed the ninja off.

"Grobyc!" Orlha gasped. "_MULTI PUNCH_." Orlha lunged. She kicked Vader in the face twice, a sweep kick on below, and a four-time from the belly to his face as the attacks force her up then landing with a thrust punch. Vader was pushed only at the last strike by one step.

"What!" Orlha was shocked as her attacked barely took a bite for Vader.

Vader thrust his punch onto Orlha's belly. She fell on the ground crouching and clutching the traumatized spot. She felt like that blow could almost knock her out.

"_GRAVE DIGGER." _A tomb marker rose from under Greco. He jumped from it and just as he neared to a body press, Vader noticed him coming down and caught him with an elbow. The elbow strike ricochet Greco back for ten feet.

"Greco!" Orlha and Grobyc called in monotone. Orlha was too injured to get up yet but Grobyc had the energy and lunged to Vader.

"_Gravitonne."_ Vader sets an enormous, pressure flatting gravity on all three of them. None of them could move.

"_Magma Bursts_." Orlha felt the floor getting hotter. Lava is moistening the floor, then burst out like a geyser. As the molten rocks fade, Orlha fell motionless and burned all over.

"NO…!" Grobyc went enraged. Braving the gravitational force placed on him as he makes a break to stand. "_STRONG ARM_" Grobyc detach his rocketing arm and replaced it with a laser cannon.

"Take-that." Grobyc fired from his cannon. A lavender beam streaked across the hall of the manor, engulfing Vader. The laser moved further on, boring a hole through the wall, large enough for a horse could fit in. 

The gravity pushing them down faded, indicating that Vader must be dead. It is hard to believe that he could survive such an attack in one piece. The lavender laser left a burned out trail in the hall. There was a smoking figure then.

"That-is-impossible!" Grobyc gasped as he sees Vader still intact, his arms raised in X block. The helmeted assassin lowered his block and took a back-stance, alerting Grobyc that Vader would counter.

"_PLASMA STRIKE."_ Vader leaps to the air, right arm glowing in violet. Grobyc move to avoid it but his circuits malfunctions, giving him the fraction-of-a-second delay, which is enough for him to get hit. Vader struck his glowing arm onto Grobyc's head. The strike sent tormenting force that bore Grobyc down, through the floor, down through the first floor, the basement, the second basement, and ended in the sewer.

Vader peered at the hole. He could see Grobyc shuddering below then stopped as his processor ceased to function. The robot twitches a bit as it shuts down.

Greco rushed from behind Vader, wrapping his arms around the neck as he grapples to choke him. 

"Fool!" Vader warns, bending over as he counters and slams Greco. The wrestler fell flat on the floor.

"_MANIAC SLAMS."_ Vader kicks Greco at the rib, nearly breaking it. Vader collared on him, slamming him back and forth six times in three seconds. Vader lifted to the air, holding Greco as to slam him harder then back as he threw the wrestler to the stairs behind him, leading to the first floor.

Greco rolled helplessly down the stairs then came to a stop as he reached ground. He could hardly keep his eyes open to see the snake statue beside him turn once. The round dragon figure he was on opened into a hole in a snap. Greco fell then the hole and it closed back immediately as the Spanish-slang wrestler fell.

"Tia…" Orlha gasped. "Help me…_SISTERHOOD."_

Vader turned, surprise to see doubles, no its Orlha and someone is with her, another blonde with the same attire and age as Orlha. The two jumped and, simultaneously, kicked Vader in the face, to the belly, going up to his face again and then a thrust punch from the two girls. Vader fell into the ground after the last hit but got back up.

"That's it." Vader gasped. "You're joining the rest of them." He leaped into the air, diving his feet on Orlha's shoulder. Vader jumped away from Orlha then landed in standing right in front of her.

Orlha seemed to paused then cough out as blood flowed out of her mouth. She fell to her knees then her face hitting the ground.

Vader turned to the staircase. Just when he thinks of getting up, he noticed light was shining from behind him. He turned and sees someone in white cloak, silvery armor and mask and holding a rod.

"You're relentless." The white-cloaked man said. "But you can't go any further."

Vader materialized back his Ore as he forms a fist in his hand. "Who are you? Why are you after me?"

"I am Azoh." The figure introduces him. "You and the girl are in the hit list of Mistress Nemesis."

"Nemesis!" Vader grunted. 

"It's far too late now." Azoh points out. "Nemesis had already undertaken this plan." The cloaked figure lays his finger to the black assassin. "For doing this to the manor…you are going to end up as an enemy to the Acacia Dragoons if not the whole of El Nido!"

"You set us all up!" Vader charges for Azoh. Before he could get near enough, two swordsmen jumped in from the window and blocked his Ore. Vader jumped back to his original spot.

The first swordsman had a long black hair; the middle strand had been tied. He wore an ancient tunic and pants of white color, which had serves as battle armor, and a red vest over it. The second swordsman had a short black hair and wore a white polo closed by tying fiber strands and white pants, and a black belt tied to his waist. Their swords were black, huge and look heavy. Strangely, they manage to hold it well in one hand.

"Meet Shaw and Mushu." Azoh introduces the swordsmen. "Get him!" Azoh barks, pointing his index finger on the dark assassin.

At the order, the two swordsmen charge. Vader blocked Shaw (the longhaired) as he slashes his sword while leaping to avoid Mushu's. Vader landed back to the ground, slashing his weapon but the two assassins easily blocked it. The two jumped back.

"_DOUBLE COMBO_."

Shaw dashed forth, slashing along the way, as Mushu leaps to the air. Vader blocked Shaw. Mushu dives for his cut. Vader twist his Ore upward causing the airborne swordsman to clash his blades with the Ore. The two warriors jumped back for defensive purpose.

Vader also jumped back but unable to. He looked down his feet; the floor is glowing in a disc of blue. He pulled it out harder but his foot is just stuck. "What the?"

"You shall be gone!" Azoh points out.

Vader force himself out even more but he just sinks like he is in a quicksand. The blue circle…This must be the 'Gate'. This could throw him to a different space, time, and dimension. The blue swirling light has now swallowed down to his hips.

"Stop struggling, you're a goner for this." Azoh warns that it's hopeless fighting back.

"We'll see…" Vader made one blinding slash. The hook-like blade of his Ore caught Shaw at the back and through his chest, like catching a fish with a curve spear. He pulled Shaw towards him quickly. Shaw struggled back but couldn't break free.

"Shaw!" Mushu rushed towards for the aid. Azoh did the same but…

"_SHOCK BREAKER_." Vader send out powerful, non-elemental, waves with the palm strike of the floor. Mushu and Azoh were drove back and knocked to the ground.

"_Gravitonne_…" Vader cast powerful G-force over them. Neither Azoh nor Mushu could come to Shaw's aid. 

Shaw pushes himself off the blades, cutting half of his belly. He hastily crawled away from Vader but the gravitational fore was affecting him as well, slowing him down. Vader, with his hips and legs swallowed by the portal, grabbed Shaw's left ankle. 

Shaw slashed down his sword to cut Vader's gripping hand but Vader quickly pulled Shaw's leg, making him cut his leg instead but unable to amputate it.

Shaw screamed in pain, clutching his damaged ankle. He opened back his eye only to glimpse the scythe's blade coming down. Shaw couldn't move well; the powerful gravity is still within him and the blades struck his back. Vader pulled back his Ore, dragging Shaw towards him.

Azoh and Mushu struggled to help Shaw get away but the more they try, the harder the gravitational force pushes them down, making them feel so much heavier that they could not even lift their feet.

"I'm taking one of you're thugs to hell with me!" Vader called out, gripping Shaw's neck. One second later, their bodies suddenly dipped to perish into the hole. The strong force of extra gravity diminished just as they disappeared.

"Follow him, he's in Gaia!" Azoh ordered as he got up, pointing to the blue disk.

Mushu nod, rushing to the portal and jumping in. Azoh tapped the floor with the tip of his staff, causing the blue gate portal to close, edge to center it shrunk.

"No one must get in Mistress Nemesis…" Azoh turned to the stairs leading to the ground floor. "No one…especially you…traitor!" his voice fades as he disappears to thin air long after taking just a few steps. 

"She's still burning up." Doc warns as he placed his hand on Kid's forehead. "I think we need some water to cool her down."

"Yes." Riddel replied. "But we can't get out here until the dragoons say so…"

"I sure hope it will be over." Doc sigh. "Th patient must not stay too hot or she will die, especially in her condition and what she has been to…"

The false door opened. Doc was glad, relieved that the battle must be over. He turned to the door but surprised that it's, Vader!

"You!" Doc gasped.

"I'll take her." Vader gasped

"Never…" Doc shot a silver dart but Vader easily avoided it. Riddel stepped forth beside Doc, fully blocking Vader's path to Kid.

"_GRAND CROSS."_

Bluish light shunned over the room in a flash, drowning everything in the glare. Doc and Riddel fell on the ground, motionless.

Vader levitated over them, he lifted Kid from the table. "So beautiful…" He gasped but his voice changed to something more grim and more devilish.

His body started morphing, helmet shrinking and becoming rougher, cape of black turning red; body getting thinner yet shoulders getting larger. Finally, his motorcycle helmet turned into a skull with an iron helmet and a pair of metallic batwings. His body a skeleton dressed in a royal garment but it had decayed to look more ragged. 

"Let's go." The skeleton whispered. "Lavos is waiting…" with that, he and Kid disappeared to thin air.

In the basement of the manor lied Vader's victims, the Acacia dragoons. Life was silence by the single framed assassin.

A ghostly, transparent figure materialized. The figure had a white robe, face covered by a white hood. It, barely five feet tall, approached the close to the remains of Serge and the rest of the fallen dragoons.

"_LIFE GEM SHINING_"

The figure cast a pseudo white stone in the air. Based on the voice, the figure must be a female, perhaps a young girl no older that fourteen, underneath the cover. The jewel cast white light that shined brightly like the sun in the dark underground of the Manor.

Serge slowly got up; his wounds and burns shrinking. Before he could turn, the figure then vanished. Serge hadn't even saw or even sense her.

"Serge." Glenn gasped; his wounds were gone as well.

"Where did he go!" Karsh grumbled, referring to Vader. His injuries were healed as well.

"We must…" Viper pushes himself up with his sword.

"KID!" Serge called out rushing out of the basement.

"Yes, come on!" Glenn called out, the other dragoons, healed, rushes as well.

Serge rushes to the first floor then to the second floor, ignoring the dizzy dragoons all over his path. Running so fast, Serge was already gasping for air. He was stopped when he sees Orlha lying on blood.

"Orlha!" Serge called out. "_Full Revival_."

A pillar of white light shined on with a dense pack of white 'stars'. Orlha got herself up to her feet.

"Orlha." Serge gasped.

"He beat us up, we must save Kid!" Orlha gasped.

Serge and Orlha rushes together. The staircase was still up the third floor, but Serge and Orlha made it up anyway, jumping and hanging on the ledge before pulling themselves up.

Orlha made it to the door of Viper's room. As they opened the door, they found the mechanical bookshelf moved.

"Doc! Riddel!" Serge called out, seeing them both lying on the floor.

"Doc, wake up!" Orlha gasped, looking around. Kid is missing! "Where is Kid? What happened!"

Serge held on to Riddel. She then woke up. "Are you alright? Who did this?"

"I'm fine." Riddel gasped. "But Kid is…" with that Riddel got onto her feet. 

Serge let go of her and stared at the table where Kid had laid. He went on to see that all that is left is the blanket that had covered Kid. She's really gone; easy come, easy go. Despite a fierce battle, the results were futile.

"Serge!" Glenn called out, the rest of the dragoon followed, including Zoah and Marcy. Grobyc and Greco followed with a short delay.

"Serge, I'm sorry for…" Doc apologizes. 

"No, we are all sorry…" Riddel apologizing further.

Serge went on to the table, holding on the white sheet. Kid…She's gone again. After all those time they search, then found her then they fought back but still she was lost.

"NO…!" Serge's scream was heard all over the manor. 


End file.
